1920-00-00: (Deforestation Begins Its Catastrophic Acceleration, Haiti’s Forest Cover Declining From Sixty Percent to Less Than Two Percent Over the Course o…

1920-00-00: (Deforestation Begins Its Catastrophic Acceleration, Haiti’s Forest Cover Declining From Sixty Percent to Less Than Two Percent Over the Course of the Twentieth Century, an Environmental Catastrophe Driven by Poverty, Population Growth, and the Charcoal Economy): In 1920, approximately sixty percent of Haiti’s national territory was covered by forests. At the time of Columbus’s arrival in 1492, the island had been covered with lush forests and was home to more than six thousand species of plants. As the population grew during the twentieth century, Haitians began cutting down the forests to produce charcoal for cooking, the only fuel most families could afford. By 1980, less than twenty-five percent of the nation remained forested. By the twenty-first century, the figure had declined to less than two percent. The deforestation caused soil erosion that decreased agricultural productivity, worsened the impact of hurricanes and heavy rains, triggered mudslides that killed hundreds, and reduced the capacity of the Péligre Dam. Reforestation projects funded by USAID planted over sixty million trees after 1990, but the majority were chopped down by Haitians to make charcoal. The cycle would continue until alternative fuel sources were developed, and no government had the resources or political will to develop them. The aerial view told the story: on the flight from Port-au-Prince to Santo Domingo, the Haitian side of the border was brown. The Dominican side was green.